FEMA could face a deficit of more than $1.3 billion by August due to devastating weather.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — It’s not your imagination. This year, the Houston area and the country have experienced numerous severe weather events.

In fact, there have been so many weather emergencies that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is already on the verge of running out of money.

Hurricane season has just begun, which is typically the most dangerous time of year for weather events on the Gulf Coast.

The agency’s main disaster relief fund could face a deficit of more than $1.3 billion by August, according to FEMA’s latest report to Congress. And the new report doesn’t even include the second half of May. Meanwhile, claims continue to pour in about severe weather in Houston and other parts of the country.

“FEMA continues to work with the Administration and Congress to ensure that sufficient funding is available. Without additional funding, FEMA will take action before funding runs out to ensure that resources are available to support activities in rescue and life support courses and provide a reserve for initial response and recovery operations in the event of another catastrophic event,” explained a FEMA spokesperson.

Experts say the most important thing to remember is that if you don’t have flood insurance, get it now.

It will take 30 days to take effect, and it is much more reliable than federal aid.

“The average flood insurance check for Hurricane Harvey was about $116,000. The average disaster assistance check for Hurricane Harvey was just over $4,400. It So there’s a huge difference in the amount of money you’ll need to start your life over,” said Gilbert Giron, FEMA’s regional flood insurance liaison for the Houston area. “And, as you can imagine, if you had three or four feet of water in your house, $4,000 wouldn’t be much to help you get back to your lifestyle.”

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